


Chased the High

by crimsontheory



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Blow Jobs, Car Accidents, Fire, Firefighter Liam, Firefighter Louis Tomlinson, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Paramedic Niall, Pining, firefighter harry, i've literally never used soz in my life i don't know why i just did that, none of the boys are involved in the car accident and it's nothing serious, oh they're also american in this soz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-21 22:54:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13750920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsontheory/pseuds/crimsontheory
Summary: Working as a fireman is a tough job. Being in love with your best friend and fellow fireman is also a tough job.Or the one where Louis and Harry are both fireman and Louis doesn't know how much longer he can go on harboring his feelings for Harry.





	Chased the High

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hello! I absolutely fell in love with this prompt the first time I saw it and I was so happy this was the one I received. Unfortunately, it's not very fireman-y, but hopefully, it's still okay? All I know about being a firefighter is just your basic knowledge and the very minimum amount of googling I did.
> 
> Shoutout to my girlfriend for keeping me sane while I was writing this and for not killing me when I sent her countless amounts of word count updates, even though she probably wanted to. She helped me with most of the ideas for this fic because I had nothing when I first started writing, so I owe a lot of this to her. She also read this over for me so a huge thank you to her for that as well.
> 
> Title is taken from Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld featuring like twenty other people. I'm so obsessed with that song it's stupid. But I'm also super in love with Hailee Steinfeld, so maybe I'm just a bit biased.

One thing he still isn’t used to is the heat. Which is stupid right, like fire is hot, that’s just common sense. But after working this job for almost six years now, that’s still something Louis thinks he’ll never get used to. Even with the tiny fires like the one they were called out to today, it’s still really fucking hot. 

They’re at an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city that some teenagers were hanging out in and somehow managed to start a fire. All the kids had fled the scene by the time they showed up of course, but the guy who called it in said he saw a group of them run out the back just before they showed up. 

It was a simple little thing, just some old pallets piled up on the floor that they tried to ignite; like they were trying to start a bonfire indoors. It only took about twenty minutes to put out and clean up, but that didn’t stop the layer of sweat breaking out over Louis’ entire body. 

It also doesn’t help that it’s the middle of July and about a million and one degrees outside, so when Louis pulls his helmet off once he leaves the building, he doesn’t feel any cooler than he did with it on. The breeze that blows across his sweat-slick skin is warm and almost insufferable. 

He squints his eyes as he adjusts to the brightness of the sun when he fully makes it outside. It was almost pitch black inside the building due to it having no electricity, so they only had the small amount of light filtering in through the windows and their flashlights to go by. 

As Louis crosses the street to get back to the truck, he unzips his jacket to try and get some airflow going. He shivers when the wind blows against his sweat-soaked shirt that’s clinging to his stomach like a second skin. It helps him cool down but only minimally and that’s probably only because it let out his body heat that was trapped inside. 

He grabs his bag from inside the truck and takes out one of the water bottles he has stashed inside for instances just like this one and dumps the entirety of it over his head. He didn’t close his eyes in time and they sting as sweat trickles into them through his eyelashes, but it helps clean off some of the grime from his face. He then repeats the same exact thing with the rest of the bottles in his bag. 

“Here,” Louis feels something press against the inside of his elbow and he opens his eyes to see Harry standing next to him handing him yet another bottle of water. “This one's for you to actually drink since you poured all of those—” Harry nods his head towards the four empty bottles lying on the ground at Louis’ feet. “—on your head.”

“I’ve got to keep the face clean, Harold,” Louis jokes, accepting the bottle from Harry and taking a swig from it. Unfortunately, it’s warm, but it’s water and right now while he’s still scorching hot inside and out, it’s the most delicious thing Louis has ever tasted. “It’s one of my best assets.” 

Harry just stands there, his head cocked to the side and his hands on his waist. His jacket is hanging open and his hands are pushing it back behind him which only accentuates and draws the eye to the narrowness of his waist. Like Louis really needs _another_ reason to stare at Harry. 

Louis can tell that Harry is trying his hardest to suppress a smile. For one; he’s known Harry for almost eight years now and they’ve been the best of friends since day one and sometimes he feels like he knows Harry better than he knows himself and two; that damn dimple that Louis will never _ever_ get tired of seeing is starting to carve deep into Harry’s cheek as the smile wavers on his lips.

Another thing Louis will never get used to about this job is seeing Harry sweaty and dirty about seventy percent of the time. Just seeing Harry in any setting makes Louis’ heart skip a beat and cause goosebumps to prickle the surface of his skin. Although, he doesn't think he actually _wants_ to get used to any of that. The butterflies in his stomach feeling, the warm contentedness that washes over him, the magnetism that pulls him into Harry’s orbit whenever he’s anywhere in the vicinity of him. He just wishes it all wasn't so unrequited. 

“It’s _one_ of your best, yes,” Harry agrees, that smile now full blown. “But it isn’t your best.”

“What are you insinuating, Harry?” He has an idea of what Harry is trying to say, but surely that _isn't_ what he’s really saying because Harry never looks at Louis that way. 

He turns to fully remove his jacket and he places it on his seat inside the truck. He took it off mostly because he desperately needed to because he felt like he was about to burst into flames himself. He guesses the best possible place for one to simultaneously combust is when you’re with a fireman, but that doesn't mean he particularly _wants_ to do that. 

The main reason he removed his jacket is so Harry wouldn’t see the uncomfortable expression on his face. It’s not that he is uncomfortable, quite the opposite actually, but on those very rare occasions that Harry seems to reciprocate any of the feelings that Louis has for him, he doesn’t know how to react. Even though that’s literally all he’s wanted for eight years, for Harry to see him as more than a friend, but he knows that will never happen especially since Harry has a boyfriend right now, which Louis doesn’t like to think about.

There are times when Louis thinks _maybe_. Maybe all these feelings he has aren't so one-sided. It’s in the way Harry looks at him sometimes or in those soft lingering touches, but Louis’ sure he just imagines those things because he _wants_ those things to be real.

“Oh come on, Lou. You know what your best _ass_ et is,” Harry says, putting emphasis on the first part of the word asset. “These turnout pants don’t do much to show it off, unfortunately.” 

Louis looks down at his turnout pants and frowns. They’re definitely not the most flattering of attire, but it's what he wears most of the time because of his job. In reality, he’d wear sweatpants all day every day, but those aren’t particularly flattering either. He knows he can pull off a good skinny jean, but those are just incredibly uncomfortable.

He feels the heat rising in his cheeks at Harry’s words and he’s glad he’s still facing away. Louis doesn’t blush, like _ever_ , not since he was in his teens, but Harry never fails to make him blush. Even if it's the simplest of things, the smallest compliment, a passing comment, if it’s coming from Harry it has Louis melting like butter.

Now though, Louis knows it’s not a real compliment, that Harry is just joking around, but it’s something that could almost be considered _sexual_ and it’s coming from Harry and Louis doesn’t quite know what to do with that.

“Stop talking about my ass and get in the truck,” Louis decides just to brush it off and pretend like it never happened. The way Harry makes him feel and act sometimes, you would think Louis was a teenager again and not in his thirties. “It’s past lunchtime and I’m starving,”

Harry laughs as he jumps into the passenger's side of the fire truck and yells out the window as Louis goes around to double check that all the cabinets are shut securely. “Are we going to Sally’s?”

“What kind of question is that?” Louis asks as he settles into the driver’s seat. Since it was a small and easily controllable fire that they were called out to, it’s just the two of them. “When do we not go to Sally’s?”

“Okay true,” Harry nods as he buckles his seatbelt. “Should I text Niall to see if he wants to join us?”

Louis starts the truck and checks over his shoulder to make sure that the road is clear before he pulls away from the curb. “You can, but he’s probably too busy saving lives.”

“He’s always too busy saving lives to hang out with us anymore.” Louis can practically hear the pout in Harry’s voice

“I know. I hate that asshole.” Louis says as he turns right onto the main road.

\--

 

Sally’s is a hole-in-the-wall dinner nestled right in the heart of Brooklyn. It’s in between a flower shop and a pharmacy and you wouldn't even be able to tell that it’s a diner unless you stepped inside. It’s all red brick on the outside with a tiny worn out neon sign that says _Sally’s_ hanging above the door.

It’s somewhere that Louis and Harry stumbled upon while they were still in school and they immediately fell in love with it. They’ve been coming back as often as they can ever since.

The place is pretty empty when they walk in as it usually is, but they spot Liam, another one of their fellow firemen and close friend, already waiting for them in their usual booth against the back wall and he waves to them when he notices them walk in. Harry slides into the booth first on the opposite side and Louis takes the spot next to him. 

They’ve barely been sitting there two minutes, haven’t even had time to catch Liam up on the abandoned warehouse fire when Sally approaches the table, a tray full of food in her hands. Sally’s father opened this place when she was just a baby and named it after her, it’s been going strong ever since. Sally took over ownership when her father passed away and she has told them how she’ll pass it along to her son when it’s her time to go. She hopes it’ll stay in the family for as long as possible. This place means everything to her.

She’s almost in her sixties now and always wears her greying hair in a floppy bun atop her head. Whenever she complains about her old age, Harry and Louis tell her that she doesn’t look a day over thirty, which she doesn’t. Louis wants to know her secret. 

She’s easily become like a second mother to all of them, always sending them off with a free slice of pie or a milkshake for the road. She’s definitely one of the sweetest ladies Louis has ever known—besides his own mother of course—and he genuinely cares so much for her. 

“Hello boys,” she greets warmly, setting plates and cups down on the table. “Liam told me you were coming so I went ahead and started up your usuals.” 

Just the smell of the food placed down in front of him has Louis’ mouth watering. There aren’t many things that Louis loves more than a good home cooked meal. Whenever he has time to make it back to his visit his mom, she always makes enough food to feed a small country and Louis eats every bit of it. His mom’s cooking is the best in the world, but this simple double bacon cheeseburger he always gets from Sally’s comes pretty close. Just don’t tell his mom that.

This probably isn’t something that Louis should be eating as often as he does, but he spends over an hour in the gym every day so that kind of cancels it out, right?

“Thank you, Sally,” Louis says to her once all the food is set out on the table. “You’re looking gorgeous as always.”

“Oh stop it. You boys flatter me way too much,” Sally replies bashfully, ducking her head. “If there’s anything else you might need, you know where to find me.”

They’re finally able to tell Liam about the fire they were called out to before lunch once they’ve all tucked into their food. Louis has already made his way halfway through the napkins in the little dispenser sitting on the table. He always seems to end up wearing more of the burger than he eats, and the thing is mostly just grease anyway so it drips all over his hands, but that’s what makes it better.

Plus, Louis loves the adorable little pout Harry gets on his face whenever Louis touches him with his greasy hands.

About halfway through their lunch, the little bell above the door jingles as it’s pushed open and in walks Niall. He’s got his sunglasses pushed up into his hair and he’s swinging what Louis presumes to be his ambulance keys around his pointer finger. 

“There she is,” Niall beams, spreading his arms out wide as he walks towards the counter where Sally is wiping down the surface after a customer just left. “One of my favorite women in the whole world.”

Niall is the one that has been coming here for the least amount of time out of the four of them, but he very quickly became Sally’s favorite. She says he reminds her of a younger version of her husband.

After Niall has shared a hug with Sally and has taken his food from where she was holding in the back to keep it warm for him, he slides into the empty spot next to Liam in their booth.

“Sorry I’m late guys,” he apologizes with his mouth stuffed full of fries. “I just had a wild afternoon. This fifteen-year-old kid—I don't know if he was running away or trying out parkour or what, but he jumped from his second story balcony and completely shattered his ankle.” Everyone at the table winces in sympathy. “It’ll be a miracle if he’s able to walk again after that. He was great about it though, super optimistic. He was a cool kid.”

Louis has finished his food and he’s happily letting it digest as he sips on his water and listens to Niall tell another story about the boy with the broken ankle when the bell above the door jingles again. He glances over through the corner of his eye and the good mood he was just in flies right out the window when he sees who is currently walking towards their table.

“What is _he_ doing here?” Louis asks bitterly.

“I invited him,” Harry answers, squeezing Louis’ knee underneath the table. “Please be nice, Lou.”

He can’t help the little pang of betrayal he feels in his stomach at the thought of Harry inviting his boyfriend here. This has always been _their_ place and the fact that Harry has invited an outsider doesn't quite sit right with him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m always nice.”

Louis scowls as Evan approaches the booth. “Hey babe,” he says to Harry, leaning down to give him a kiss before sitting down next to him, causing Louis to be squished up against Harry and the wall. 

Any other time Louis would be thrilled to be pressed up against Harry’s side like he is right now, but because of the reason that it’s happening; he can’t really enjoy it very much.

“Hello, Lewis.” Evan finally acknowledges Louis after he’s said his hellos to everyone else at the table like it was just an afterthought to even say anything to him at all. “It's always such a pleasure to see you.” It doesn’t matter how many times Louis has told Evan that his name is pronounced like _Louie_ ,not _Lewis_ , he’s never bothered to get it right. And he says it so _condescendingly_ like he knows it's wrong he just doesn’t give a shit.

Louis has gone through his fair share of Harry’s boyfriends and he’s hated every single one of them. Most of them were really hard to hate because they were actually decent guys, but they have everything Louis wants so he has no other option but to hate them. 

But Evan is different. He’s such a fucking sleazeball that it’s no problem at all for Louis to hate him, and he doesn’t even try to hide it. He treats Harry like shit; walks all over him and uses him for his own personal gain. It’s disgusting. Harry doesn’t deserve that and Louis wishes he could see how much of an asshole Evan really is. 

He knows that it always upsets Harry whenever he’s rude to his boyfriends, and he hates that part of it but he literally can’t help it. He’s just bitter and jealous because he wishes more than anything that he was in their position. Harry deserves the best and Louis knows he’s not even close to being the best but at least he would treat Harry the way he deserves to be treated.

Louis sits quietly in his cramped corner trying to ignore the heat of Harry’s body pressed against him. The rest of the table easily welcomed Evan into the conversation and therefore pushed Louis right out of it. Well, technically, they’re still trying to include Louis but he’s in such a sour mood now that he can’t be bothered to be a part of it. 

Right now, he wants nothing more than to leave. Maybe just excuse himself to the bathroom so he can splash some water on his face to try and cool down, but he knows it’ll be futile because as soon as he sees Evan’s stupid face again he’ll go right back to being bitter. 

The rest of their lunch doesn’t go by as quickly as Louis had hoped, but at least he leaves with a free slice of cherry pie. Louis sits in the truck and eats said pie while he bitterly stares out the front window at Harry and Evan saying their goodbyes on the sidewalk.

Louis must be a masochist because even though it hurts his heart to see Harry with some other guy, he can’t look away. If Evan wasn’t such a prick, they’d actually be kind of cute together. 

The awkward silence in the truck as they ride back to the station makes Louis feel even shittier.

\--

“Reel it in bro, you’re scaring the children.”

The weather is perfect for their yearly fundraiser. It’s July so of course, it’s scorching out, but at least there’s quite a nice breeze going and a lot of shaded areas from all the trees. 

They’re having another barbeque cook-off in the small park around the corner from the station because that did so well the last two years. They even set up a bouncy castle and a face painting station for all the kiddos. 

Speaking of kids, one of them came up to Harry and asked if he could see the fire truck. And now he's got a whole horde of them climbing all over the truck and he’s handling them so well like the natural mother hen he is. 

It’s a hard thing for Louis to watch because it’s probably, most definitely, the cutest thing he’s ever seen. He _loves_ seeing Harry with kids, the way he just lights up around them, it’s impossible for Louis to not picture them having their own kids someday, which is something he shouldn’t be thinking about. 

He probably looks like a total creep just standing here watching all the children, but really he’s watching Harry more than anything. And if anyone asks, he’s supervising. 

Louis turns to his left to find Niall standing there with a plate full of barbecue in his hands. 

“What are you talking about?” Louis asks, focusing back on the kids he was watching earlier before Niall interrupted him. He’s literally just standing here; he isn’t doing anything that could remotely scare the children. 

“I could see your Harry boner from all the way over there.” He points to where his ambulance is parked against the curb on the other side of the park. 

Louis is about to brush him off and possibly steal one of those barbecue wings from Niall’s plate, but then what he said catches up with him and he freezes, eyes going wide. “Wait. You could see my _what_?”

“Your Harry boner,” Niall repeats nonchalantly like that isn’t the most absurd thing Louis has ever heard in his life. 

“What the fuck is a Harry boner?”

“You know, the boner that you have for Harry. Because you’re in love with him,” Niall elaborates.

Louis nearly chokes. He was certain that no one knew about it. He’s always extremely careful about keeping his feelings for Harry under wraps. He only talks about it with himself. Inside his head. “You’re crazy. I’m not in love with Harry.”

“Oh please,” Niall scoffs, rolling his eyes as he takes a bite of the exact wing Louis was thinking about stealing earlier. “It’s so obvious. Everyone can tell that you’re in love with him. Even these fucking kids can tell.”

Louis sighs as he watches Harry places one of the little boys in the control area for the turntable ladder on their truck. “How long have you known?” 

“Since the minute I met the two of you,” Niall answers, without even taking a second to think about it.”

“You’ve known us for four years,” Louis points out. 

“Yeah and that’s exactly how long I’ve known. And how long you’ve been in love with Harry.” It’s amazing that Louis is able to perfectly understand what Niall is saying when his mouth is full. 

“Well it’s more like eight years,” Louis mumbles under his breath. “Ever since I’ve known him.”

“Figured as much,” Niall shrugs. “You gonna tell him?”

“And ruin our friendship and possibly our careers as well,” Louis questions sarcastically. “Yeah, no thanks.”

“Why not?” Niall asks. “He feels the same way about you.”

“W-what? _No_. No,” Louis splutters. “He doesn’t. What about Evan?”

Niall turns to him, food almost flying off his plate from the sharpness of his turn. “You really think Harry loves that guy? He’s a tool.”

At least Louis isn’t the only one that thinks that. Niall and Liam are so nice to Evan but he guesses they just do that for Harry’s sake, Louis is so _irrationally_ jealous of Evan that he can't even handle that. 

Louis seriously considers what Niall said, but ultimately decides that there is no way in hell that Harry feels the same way, it’s just not possible. He continues to watch Harry with the kids, trying to control his heart from bursting right out of his chest and eventually does steal some of Niall’s barbecue.

\--

The sound of his feet hitting the treadmill echo off the walls of the station gym. His workout playlist softly filling his ears through his headphones. He presses the red button on the panel of the treadmill and it slows to a stop. He grabs the towel he brought out with him at the beginning of his workout to wipe the sweat from his face. 

His body thrums with nervous energy. Workouts always exhaust him yet pump him at the same time and he never knows what to do with all that. Louis eyes the treadmill and considers going for another five miles, even though he’s already done five. 

He stands in front of the bench press trying to decide if he even wants to do this part of his workout. He’s always been more a runner than a weightlifter, but he needs to bump up his upper body strength. 

Just as Louis is laying out a clean towel on the bench, Liam walks into the gym. “Hey man, Harry and I are about to start washing the truck if you want to come help.”

That is the exact excuse Louis needs to not have to do this damn weightlifting, he went hard enough on the treadmill today, he can skip it. Today will just be a cardio day. “Yeah sure, let me just clean up here and I’ll be out in a minute.”

By the time Louis makes it outside, the truck is in the little driveway in front of the station and Liam and Harry have already started the washing. He grabs a bucket and a bottle of soap and walks around the opposite side of the truck. Just as he rounds the corner to the other side, he stops dead in his tracks, the bucket slipping from his fingertips and clattering against the pavement. 

Because there is Harry, water hose in his hand spraying down the side of the truck in nothing but the _tiniest_ pair of white swim trunks Louis has ever seen and he’s suddenly forgotten how to breathe. 

Sure, Louis has seen Harry shirtless before, a countless amount of times and each time is even more excruciating than the last because Harry has the longest and leanest torso in the whole damn world. 

He’s even seen Harry naked once or twice in the shower room in the station, but Louis doesn’t like to think about that. Actually, he _loves_ to think about that but only when he’s in the privacy of his own home. 

He always politely averts his eyes and tells Harry off for his indecency and tells him to _put that thing away before you turn me straight_ , but in reality, Louis wants nothing more than to look and _touch_ , but he values his and Harry’s friendship over anything else. 

Harry seems to have an aversion for clothing and if it wasn’t, you know, _illegal_ to walk around public naked, Louis’ pretty sure Harry wouldn’t wear a thing most of the time. And Louis can’t really decide if that’s a good thing or not. 

But now, Louis’ just standing there staring, his jaw on the ground by his feet and the bucket he dropped because every single one of his wet dreams is being lived out directly in front of him. And it’s not just because Harry’s practically naked, he’s wet and _soapy_ , those little white shorts are drenched and clinging to him like a second skin and leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. Louis needs to get out of here right now before there’s a serious situation. 

He turns around to make a run for it back inside, but he doesn’t make it very far because as soon as he turns around he slams directly into Liam. 

“Hey Lou,” Liam smirks, his eyes flicking over Louis’ shoulder where Louis is sure Harry is sudsing up his body or something equally life ruining. “Haz got your tongue?”

Louis startles. Surely, Liam said _cat_ and not _Haz_ , they sort of sound similar right. But Liam is looking at Louis like _he knows_ and Louis would be very grateful if he just dropped dead right this second. 

For some stupid reason, he looks over his shoulder and there’s Harry waving at them like he’s not completely destroying Louis’ entire world right now. 

He’s trying his hardest not to pop the most inappropriate boner of all time because he feels like a teenager with a crush and not the thirty-one-year-old man he is with _excellent_ self-control, thank you very much. 

He picks up his bucket and spins on the spot, heading for the part of the truck that is the furthest away from both Harry and Liam. He tries to think of something un-sexy to get himself back under control; like old ladies. There’s nothing wrong with old ladies, they’re lovely and sweet and bake amazing cookies, he’s just not sexually attracted to them, which is something he needs to be thinking about instead of the fact that all of his sexual desires are just on the other side of the truck and _dripping wet_. 

Louis drops to the ground by one of the front tires and starts scrubbing. 

\--

“Alright Jones,” Louis calls out to the group of students in front of him. “You’re up next.”

One of the guys steps away from the group and walks over to the ladder that is propped up against the side of the building. He looks confident and Louis doesn't see why he wouldn't be. This part of training is a cakewalk, Louis thought it was ridiculous when he was going through it himself, and even now he still finds it totally ridiculous. He presses the start button on the stopwatch on his phone as soon as Jones places his foot on the bottom prong of the ladder.

They haven’t gotten to the actual fire training yet. _That’s_ the fun part and also the extremely nerve-wracking part. These students will get to that next week. Now though, they’re doing the boring climb up the ladder, save the dummy inside from the building that is not even on fire, then proceed to climb back down the ladder with said dummy to see how fast they can get it done. Completely pointless. 

Louis glances down at his phone once Jones makes it back down with the dummy slung over his shoulder. A minute and three seconds. That’s the fastest one today. Jones looks absolutely pleased with himself when Louis tells him his time, but he’s only the sixth one to go in a group of fifteen so he may not be able to hold the top spot. 

He sighs as he resets the stopwatch and starts it up again for the next student. He’s bored out of his mind. This has always been the only part of his job that he’s never really enjoyed. He can handle the live fire training because that’s actually fun and gets to go inside the building with the students, but this, _this_ is just mundane. He hates when the captain assigns him to this training. Luckily, he only does it once a month for about a couple hours of his day, but he'd still rather be literally anywhere else. 

And that’s why he brought Harry along with him, so this would be somewhat bearable. Well, that and also the fact that he can’t go too long without being around Harry or he starts having withdrawals. Louis may or may not be addicted, but that’s something only he needs to know about. Liam and Niall definitely do not need to know about it because apparently they’ve known the whole entire time and now they’ve decided that teasing Louis about it is something they quite enjoy. Louis _does not_ enjoy it in the slightest and he honestly wishes they would just mind their own damn business. 

Another two students go up and down the ladder and Louis’ not even sure if he started the stopwatch at the right time. Not like their time matters anyway, this whole fucking training session doesn’t even matter. It’s going to be much harder and probably take them longer to do this when there’s an actual fire. They’re supposed to be teaching these students life lessons and what it really means to be a fireman and all that bullshit, but they already know all that. They’ve already taken and passed the written test and they wouldn’t be here if they didn’t want this.

Louis remembers how much he wanted this when he was in their position almost eight years ago, how determined he was. How determined he’s been since he was a kid because he remembers when he was fourteen and his mom picked him up from school early because the city was shut down, and possibly even the whole state because the planes had hit the towers.

He was just old enough to understand what happened yet too young to fully comprehend what happened. All he knew for sure was that it was something huge that affected the entire country and it was terrifying. Being right across the river from where it happened was even more terrifying; he literally _felt_ it when it happened. 

He remembers sitting in front of the television with his mom for the whole rest of the day watching the news coverage and being absolutely blown away by all the fireman on screen. They were risking their own lives to save other lives and Louis knew at that very moment that is what he wanted to be when he grew up. He did everything in his power to achieve that. 

It was the most grueling and time-consuming thing he had ever put himself through and even to this day he still works eighty plus hours a week and rarely gets a day off, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world. He loves his job and honestly, how many people can say that?

The last student is climbing back down the ladder and Louis is so thankful that he can now get the hell out of here. He quickly wraps everything up with his group and he’s finally free.

“Can we go to Sally’s for lunch?” Harry asks, sliding up behind him.

They’re kind of in the middle of nowhere right now because that’s where the fire station has the area they use for fire training just in case things get a little out of hand, so Sally’s is on the complete opposite side of the city from where they are. But Louis has been craving it because they haven’t been in a few days. 

When it happens, it’s so fast that Louis isn’t even sure _how_ it happened. He asks Harry to drive the truck to lunch because he’s exhausted from training the students all morning, which Harry rolls his eyes about because they both know Louis did nothing whatsoever, but he obliges nonetheless. 

They’re stopped at a stoplight just a few blocks from the training grounds when a car speeds past them and runs the red light and T-bones another car. The car that caused the accident was going so fast—definitely over the speed limit since it’s only thirty-five on this road—that it pushed the car it crashed into quite a ways down the road.

Immediately, Harry pulls the truck over to the side of the road and jumps out to help while Louis is left sitting in the passenger's seat in shock. This is what they’re trained to do, there might not be something on fire, but Louis has helped out with more car accidents than he can count. In all his thirty-one years, he’s never actually seen one _happen_ and he’s a little stunned right now.

Slowly, more slowly than he should be moving right now because someone might be seriously injured; Louis hops out of the fire truck and walks over to where Harry is leaning through a broken window of one of the cars.

“Is she alright?” Louis asks, peering around Harry to see a young girl who can’t be much older than twenty, sitting behind the steering wheel. Her side of the car was the side that was hit and she looks pretty banged up. She’s awake though, her eyes barely staying open, but she’s answering all of Harry’s questions.

“I think she might have a few broken ribs so she may have some internal bleeding,” Harry replies, pulling his head out of the window to face Louis. “I’m afraid to move her though just in case she does, I’m just going to try to keep her talking. I’m okay here if you want to check on the other driver.”

Right, the other car. Louis should have done that to begin with. He’s been through this before and he doesn’t understand why he’s struggling with it so much. He runs around to the other car, it isn’t as damaged as the girl’s so he carefully pulls open the driver’s side door.

“Hi,” he says to the man sitting in the driver’s seat, his eyes flicking over to the little boy sitting in the back. “My name’s Louis, I’m a fireman, I’m here to help. Is it just the two of you in the car?”

“Yes. It’s just me and my son,” the man nods. He just has a gash across his cheek, but other than that he doesn’t look injured from what Louis can see. “I’m so sorry, I turned my head to check on him for just a second and I didn’t notice the light change.”

“That’s alright sir,” Louis says. “Are you both able to move? I need to get you out of the car.”

He helps the man and his son out of the car and over to the sidewalk. Except for the cut on the man’s cheek, they both look okay injury-wise, but he still wants to get them to a hospital just in case. He has basic medical training, he _knows_ this stuff, but he’s having a tough time trying to figure out what he’s supposed to do. 

He jogs back over to where Harry is just as an ambulance pulls up. Niall jumps out of the back with his medical bag in hand, another paramedic following after him. 

“What’ve we got here?” Niall asks, walking around the side of the car to get a closer look at the girl. 

“Eighteen-year-old female. Broken wrist. Possible broken ribs,” Harry tells him.

 _Eighteen_. That's even younger than Louis thought she was. That’s the same age as Daisy and Phoebe. God, this could have been one of them. Just the thought of this happening to any one of his siblings makes him feel sick. 

He stumbles back to the firetruck and leans against the side of it, watching from the sidelines. Niall and the other paramedic, who Louis has met a thousand times but can never remember the name of, get the girl out of the car and onto the stretcher, wheeling her back to the ambulance. Just the sight of it makes Louis’ stomach churn. 

He works under extreme pressure every fucking day, it’s his _literal job_ to not crack under the weight of it, and he’s done a pretty amazing job of it thus far. He does this all the time, so why is this time so different?

After the ambulance has pulled away, Harry wanders over to him and Louis tries to make it look like he’s not having some sort of breakdown. Harry was _so good_ today, not like that’s out of the ordinary for him, he’s always fucking wonderful, but seeing him jump into action without a second’s thought while Louis was left floundering just makes Louis feel even more inadequate than he already does.

“Hey,” Harry greets warmly, reaching out to touch Louis’ arm. He’s smiling like nothing’s happened, like they didn’t just witness a fucking car accident. “You ready for lunch?”

Louis nods even though he’s completely lost his appetite. He is just about to climb back into the truck, when the hand Harry still has on his arm tightens, stopping him from moving.

“Are you okay?” The smile gone from his face and is now replaced with a look of concern.

Louis seriously considers lying, telling Harry he’s fine, but he knows Harry would be able to see right through him so he just shrugs instead because apparently that’s better than saying anything. 

“Lou,” Harry says, stepping closer into Louis’ personal space. He slides his hand down the length of Louis’ arm to intertwine their fingers and he reaches out with his free hand to do the same with Louis’ other hand. “Not everyone is made to handle every little thing life throws at them. I’ve never _once_ seen you struggle with something like this and I think the only reason you struggled today is that this was totally unexpected.”

Louis’ shaking his head before Harry’s even finished. “But you had no problem with it.”

Harry steps even closer. Louis can feel the warmth of his breath against his cheek when he speaks. “Louis, listen to me. You’ve never seen an accident happen before, you’ve never even been in one. _I_ have. I’ve been in several. It’s kind of a traumatic experience.” He squeezes Louis’ hands and Louis feels some of the stress leave his body. “You helped that man and his son get out of their car safely. You did as much as you were able to do and that was more than enough okay? Please don’t beat yourself up over this.”

He still feels like he’s useless like he failed, but Harry’s words help and so does him sitting across the booth from Louis at lunch. Especially when Harry lets him steal some of his fries even though he has a plate full of his own.

\--

The ringtone on his phone jolts him out of his sleep. He usually silences his phone when he’s worked almost forty hours straight and he’s actually able to go _home_ and sleep in his own bed instead of taking a quick nap in one of the bunks at the station, but he must have been so tired this time around that he fell asleep right away.

He can’t even remember the last time he slept in his own bed, he almost forgot how fucking comfortable it is, like sleeping on a damn cloud. 

He seriously considers turning his phone off and going right back to sleep because he needs to sleep for about as long as he worked, but then he sees whose name is flashing across his screen and he’s answering it without even thinking about it. 

“Harry?” Louis croaks, his voice thick from disuse. “It’s almost two in the morning. Are you okay?”

“Lou, I—“ Harry sighs and he sounds tired, but not like how Louis is tired, tired as in he’s just done with everything. “Evan and I broke up.”

Louis perks up at that and he hates it. He hates how happy he is to hear those words, to know that Harry is finally free from that asshole and can hopefully find someone who will treat him right. Louis would prefer that to be _him_ , but he knows that’s highly unlikely. 

He pushes those feelings away though because Harry is his best friend and he’s calling Louis after a breakup because he’s probably heartbroken and needs someone to talk to. 

“I’m sorry, Haz,” Louis says softly. “You alright?”

“Yes. No” Louis can picture how Harry’s face probably looks right now; his brow furrowed and his whole face scrunched up as he shakes his head trying to figure out how to put what he’s feeling into words. “I don’t know.”

“You want to tell me what happened?” Louis tries. He knows Harry can’t keep things bottled up, always feels better talking things out.

Some muffled noises come through from the other end of the line for a second like Harry’s shuffling around before he replies. “I guess he forgot I was staying at his place tonight and he brought home the guy he’s been cheating on me with.”

Louis gasps. “That’s so shitty, Harry. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Harry says. “In a way, I’m glad it’s over because he was such a dick to me, but I kept holding on because he could be so nice too. On the other hand, it sucks because I miss having someone, you know?”

Louis wants to shout _you have me_ , but instead he just says, “I know.”

“God Lou, I’m so sorry for calling you. You finally get to go home and I probably woke you up just because I need someone to whine to about my stupid problems.” 

“Hey, no,” Louis soothes. “You can call me at any time and I will always answer. I’m here for you. What are best friends for, right?”

There’s a long awkward pause before Harry says curtly, “right.” 

“Are you at home?” Louis asks, deciding to change the subject because he doesn’t know what part of what he just said was wrong, what caused Harry to hesitate.

“No, I’m at Sally’s.”

Louis quirks an eyebrow. “Sally’s? It’s two in the morning; I don’t think she’s going to be open right now.”

“She’s not,” Harry replies, deadpan. “I’m just sitting outside of it in my car. I don’t want to go home and I don’t want to go to the station because I know Liam is there and I don’t really feel like facing him right now and I didn’t really know where else to go.”

“You want to come over?” Louis offers without even thinking about it.

He can _hear_ Harry shaking his head. “No, no. I don’t want to impose.”

“I literally just invited you over, you’re not imposing. I’ll leave the door unlocked for you so just come straight in whenever you get here.”

After they’ve hung up, Louis goes to unlock his front door for Harry and then climbs back into bed. He must have fallen asleep because next thing he knows, Harry is crawling into bed next to him. Louis’ far too tired to question it—not like he would deny Harry to sleep in his bed with him when he was awake—so he just opens his arms and allows Harry to settle in them before he drifts back to sleep. 

\--

Music wakes Louis up. Or at least he thinks it’s music because it’s coming from somewhere else in the station and it’s a little muffled from all the walls. He blindly reaches out for his phone to check the time and he groans when clicks the home button and sees that he was only asleep for a little over an hour. He notices that the bunk above him is empty when he stands up and he’s pretty sure there was someone sleeping in it when he first came in here.

It’s been a week since Harry’s breakup and Louis hasn’t been avoiding him per se, it’s kind of hard to avoid each other when they work together, but he hasn’t been actively seeking Harry out at every given moment like he usually does. Waking up with Harry in his arms was a lot harder than Louis thought it would be and for a second he let himself revel in it and imagine that it was real, that Harry was _his_ to wake up to every morning. But he’s not, and Louis doesn’t know how much longer he can go on like this.

He’d rather have Harry as a friend than not have him in his life at all, so he needs to get over this. He can’t spend the rest of his life being hung up on his best friend and he knows that there’s no way they’ll end up together, so he needs to distance himself from Harry a little so he can try to move on.

When he opens the door the music gets louder. He can’t quite make out what song is playing, but at least he can tell which direction it’s coming from. He makes a left out of the room and walks down the hallway past the gym, waving at the few guys who are in there. 

He finds out exactly where the music is coming from when he’s about to round the corner into the kitchen. A Madonna song is currently playing; far too loudly in Louis’ opinion seeing as he was trying to fucking sleep. Liam is leaning against the counter drinking a mug of coffee looking like he’d rather be literally anywhere else in the world than where he is right now and Harry is doing what must be dancing but looks a lot more like he’s having some sort of weird muscle spasm.

“Lou,” Harry shouts over the music when he notices Louis standing in the entryway. He’s waving Louis over like he’s asking him to come dance with him, which isn’t Louis’ thing. Louis doesn’t dance unless he’s very, _very_ drunk. 

Liam rushes over to him. “Thank god you’re here,” he says, leaning close to Louis to be heard over the music. “He wanted you to begin with but since you were asleep he picked me instead. Please take over I’m begging you.”

Louis isn’t exactly sure what he’s taking over for, but it’s Harry so he agrees without question. Liam looks so thankful he could cry and he tells Louis he owes him one before he practically runs out of the kitchen, coffee mug in hand.

“Lou,” Harry shouts again. Not quite so loud this time because it’s a quieter part of the song. “I’ve got my ladies of the eighties playlist on! Come dance with me!”

Finally stepping into the room, Louis shakes his head. He walks over to the coffee pot because the coffee that Liam had smelled amazing and Louis could use an extra boost of caffeine since he was rudely awakened from his nap way earlier than he would have liked. “No thanks, I’m good.”

There’s a pressure against his back that pins him against the counter. He turns his head to look over his shoulder and Harry is literally pressed up against him, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. “Please, Louis.” That puppy dog look Harry has _always_ works on Louis. God, he’s such a fucking pushover when it comes to Harry.

Louis tilts his head back, resting it on Harry’s shoulder and sighs. “Okay, fine.”

“Yay!” Harry cheers, grabbing Louis’ hand and pulling him into the middle of the room.

The Madonna song has ended and is now fading into a new one and Louis instantly recognizes it. 

“ _Clock strikes upon the hour and the sun begins to fade_ ,” Harry sings along, his hips already shimming to the music. “ _Still enough time to figure out how to chase my blues away_.”

Louis can’t help but smile as he watches Harry animatedly dance along to the song, throwing his arms above his head, shaking his hips with his eyes closed as he channels Whitney during the next line.

“ _And when the night falls_ ,” Harry yell-sings, pointing directly at Louis. “ _Loneliness calls_.”

“ _Oh, I wanna dance with somebody,”_ Louis joins in with Harry for the chorus because it’s impossible _not_ to sing along to this song, especially when your best friend is dancing around the kitchen like a fucking idiot. Harry’s face positively lights up when he notices that Louis is singing along with him. _“I wanna feel the heat with somebody. Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me_.”

They jump around the dining table during the next verse, laughing way too hard to really sing with the music. Louis is already out of breath, cheeks aching from smiling nonstop.

“ _I need a man who’ll take a chance_ ,” Harry sings with his eyes closed, arms flailing out in front of him. “ _On a love that burns hot enough to last_.”

That’s when it hits Louis and he stops right in the middle of singing the next line. Harry still has his eyes closed as he spins around in circles, singing at the top of his lungs, so he doesn’t notice that Louis has stopped.

Louis _is_ the man who will take a chance on Harry and he would give _anything_ to show him a love that burns hot enough to last. If only Harry knew that he really was dancing with somebody who loves him, someone who is head over heels no going back in love with him. Whenever Louis thinks about how much he loves Harry it makes his heart beat faster and slower at the same time and goosebumps break out across his skin and his mouth goes dry.

Luckily, Louis joins back in a few seconds before Harry opens his eyes again so he doesn’t suspect a thing. They hold hands and spin each other around for the ending. Louis is so dizzy he feels like he might be sick, but this is honestly the most fun he’s had in a long while.

“ _Don’t you wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don’t you wanna dance_ ,” they sing in unison. Well, it’s more like _screaming_ in unison. 

They’re in fits of laughter on the floor by the time the song is finished and Louis is even more tired now than when he was first woken up from his nap. So much for trying to distance himself from Harry, he’s definitely going to be stuck in this hell for the long run.

\--

It’s just past ten in the evening when it happens. They’re all at the station when the call comes in and they get suited up and in the truck as quickly as possible. By the time they make it to the apartment building, the fire is well on its way. Somehow—they haven’t figure out the cause and probably won't until the fire has been put out—the entire apartment building has caught fire. First and foremost, they need to make sure all the residents make it out of the building safely.

There’s already a group of people gathered outside when Louis jumps out of the truck and he asks some of them if they know if anyone is left inside. Most of them say they think everyone is out, but they aren’t certain. 

He already saw most of the guys go straight in the building while he stopped to talk to the people outside, so he’s one of the only ones that hasn’t gone in yet. There’s a couple left by the truck to man the ladder and the hose, so it looks like he’s going in. From the outside, it looks like the fire started on one of the floors in the middle since it hasn’t reached the majority of the bottom floors. 

He takes the stairs two at a time and can already see the thick cloud of smoke in the air by the time he makes it to the fifth floor. He pushes the door open to the fifth level and there's so much smoke on this side of the door that he can barely see anything. 

Louis checks the first few apartment doors he comes to, but they’re all locked. Hopefully whoever lives in those apartments weren’t home when the fire started because he doesn’t have time to force the doors open to double check. 

The smoke gets thicker and the fire gets more intense the higher Louis goes and he doesn’t see anyone else until he gets to the eighth floor. He hears them moving around before he sees them and when he turns the corner down one of the hallways he bumps into one of the other firemen.

“Hey man,” he shouts at Louis to be heard over the roar of the fire. “Harry and Liam checked the upper levels already and the building is clear. Let’s get out of here.”

Louis nods and turns around to head back to the stairwell. There’s an even larger group of people outside then there was earlier when he makes it back out. A few are getting checked out by the paramedics that must have shown up while Louis was inside, but otherwise, most of them look unharmed.

It isn’t until a while later after Louis has removed most of his suit and has cooled down and is honestly thinking about calling it a night when he realizes something is wrong. The fire has been contained so there isn't any immediate danger, but something isn’t right. He gets out of the truck and takes a count of everyone there and that’s when he realizes someone is missing. _Harry_. Harry is still inside the building.

Just as Louis is about to re-suit up to go inside in search of him, someone emerges from the apartment building. Louis breathes out a sigh of relief and rushes towards him, but about halfway there Louis realizes it’s Liam. God, Louis feels like such a shitty friend because he didn’t even know Liam was still inside because he was so worried about Harry. 

As Liam gets closer, Louis notices something odd about the way he’s walking. He squints to try to get a better look and Liam is walking funny because he has someone slung over his shoulder. Louis recognizes that someone immediately. The limp, lifeless body that is slumped over Liam’s shoulder is Harry.

His heart drops to his stomach.

Everything around him seems to be moving in slow motion. He watches as Liam lays Harry out on the ground and he’s there by Harry’s side in a heartbeat, ripping his helmet off. Harry is still breathing so he’s _alive_ , which is a good sign, but he isn’t waking up. 

Louis can vaguely hear Liam telling someone about a support beam falling and Harry’s SCBA being disconnected and something about possible smoke inhalation but he’s only half paying attention.

The only reason Louis knows he is crying is because his vision has gone blurry from all the tears streaming down his face. He might also be screaming but he doesn’t know for sure. He doesn’t know anything except that Harry might be fucking dying and no one is doing anything about it. Louis’ entire world is shattering right in front of him and he can’t _breathe_. He lays his head on Harry’s chest and sobs. 

“Lou?”

Louis jerks upright and wipes at his eyes with his palms so he can see Harry’s face properly. Harry is still lying just like he was, but now his eyes are open and he’s blinking up at Louis. 

“Harry?” Louis says, his eyes welling up with tears again. “Harry, thank god.” And then, because he’s so overcome with relief, Louis does the most unthinkable thing. He leans down and kisses Harry right on the mouth. 

It barely lasts more than a few seconds because Louis realizes what he’s just done and he pulls back before he can make an even bigger fool of himself. He opens his eyes and is about to apologize, to do _something_ to not make this awkward, but then he looks at Harry and he’s smiling. 

“If I knew all it took was me almost dying for you to finally kiss me, I would have done it ages ago,” Harry says.

Louis chokes out a surprised laugh because _what_. “Don’t joke about that, you bastard. I was scared to death. I thought I lost you.”

Harry reaches up and gently cups the side of Louis’ face, his fingers tracing along his cheeks. “You didn’t lose me, Lou. I’m right here. I’m always going to be right here.” Then he moves his hand around to the back of Louis’ neck and pulls him down for another kiss. 

This time Louis allows himself to sink into it. He’s finally kissing Harry and it’s everything he’s ever wanted. Just the taste of him has Louis’ head spinning and belly doing flips. 

The soft, gentle press of their lips emits a deep, buzzing warmth inside of him that’s so strong Louis feels like he might pass out. 

“I love you, Louis,” Harry whispers against Louis’ lips when they pull apart. 

And Louis has heard Harry say that to him thousands of times. It’s always been thrown around carelessly, in a friendly sort of way, but this time it’s different. It’s weighted, has more meaning to it and it knocks all the breath out of Louis’ lungs. 

“God, Harry,” Louis rushes out. “I love you too.” He leans back in and kisses the smile right off of Harry’s face. 

“Alright lovebirds,” Louis hears Niall’s voice coming from somewhere behind him. “Stop the face sucking; I need to check Harry out.”

Reluctantly, Louis separates himself from Harry, but at least Niall allows him to hold Harry’s hand as he gets looked over in the back of the ambulance. 

\--

After an incident like the one with Harry happens, it’s mandatory for them to take a week off work and Louis is _struggling_ at work without Harry. Even though Harry received a clean bill of health from his doctor, it’s still required. 

They’ve texted as often as possible and even FaceTimed the one time Louis was actually able to have a whole thirty minutes to himself, but they haven’t seen each other in person since the night of the fire, which was only three days ago. Since the station is one man down, they’ve all been working extra, _extra_ double time and Louis hasn’t had a second to go check on Harry.

Of course, they haven’t talked about what happened between them because Louis has been avoiding it like the plague, but he knows it’s bound to happen any time now.

Today he is taking a long lunch and told all the other guys to not even _think_ about calling him unless it’s an absolute dire emergency. He gets their usuals to go from Sally’s and of course she throws in a slice of blueberry pie, a cinnamon roll, and two fudge brownies for free because she’s so worried about Harry You can’t argue with that woman, you just have to accept her freebies or she will be _very_ unhappy.

Louis pulls up outside of Harry’s apartment and his stomach swoops. He didn’t realize how nervous he was to see Harry until now. They _kissed_ and Louis now knows that the feelings he has for Harry are reciprocated and that’s kind of a lot. He doesn’t know if that was just something that happened because of adrenaline in the heat of the moment and if it was, Louis doesn’t know how he’s going to handle that. He grabs their takeout bags and heads inside.

He knocks on Harry’s door and waits, and waits, and waits. He lets a minute or so pass before knocking again and still nothing. He tries the doorknob instead and it’s unlocked, he pushes it open a bit and calls out before he steps inside. “Harry?”

“Back here!” Harry calls out from what Louis assumes is his bedroom. 

Louis steps inside and shuts the door behind him. He places there food on the kitchen counter before turning down the hallways towards Harry’s room. “The door was unlocked so I just let myself in. I brought lunch if you’re—oh shit, sorry.”

He covers his eyes and turns in the opposite direction because Harry’s standing at the foot of his bed in nothing but a towel still a bit damp from the shower he must have just gotten out of. That’s probably why he didn’t hear Louis knocking on his door. 

“Lou,” Harry laughs. “It’s not like I’m _naked_ , you’ve seen me shirtless before.”

“Yeah, but you pretty much _are_ naked.” Louis gestures around blindly with the hand that isn’t still covering his eyes. 

“It’s okay though, right?” Harry says. “Cause we’re in a relationship.”

That makes Louis drop his hand and he stares at Harry wide-eyed. “We are?”

“Um, were you not there when we made out in front of a raging fire and confessed our love for each other or did I just dream that?” 

“No, I was—” he stops to clear his throat. “I was definitely there.”

Harry steps into Louis’ space and softly places a hand on Louis’ hip. “Then you want to be in a relationship with me, yeah? Like boyfriends.” 

Louis closes his eyes and breathes deeply. Okay, this is really happening. “Yes, I want that very much.” 

“Me too.” 

Louis opens his eyes and looks up at Harry and _god_ he wants to kiss him. He startles a little when realizes he actually can now, he doesn’t have to imagine what it would be like in his head anymore. 

This definitely isn’t how Louis saw his lunch break going, but he can’t say he’s really all that upset about it. Plus, he’s not very hungry anymore. At least not for food.

He lightly runs his fingertips along Harry’s skin right above his towel. “Can I?”

“Please,” Harry breathes.

Instead of dropping the towel like he was originally planning on doing, Louis surges up and kisses him. The feeling of Harry’s plump lips against his own is just as intoxicating as it was the first time and he desperately hopes he will never get used to the taste of him.

Slowly, Louis moves his mouth down to Harry’s neck and trails his lips along the column of his throat, stopping to suck a mark in between his collarbones. He kisses all along Harry’s chest before he makes his way back up to Harry’s neck. 

“Lou,” Harry says, slightly tugging on Louis’ hair. 

“Hmm,” Louis hums against Harry’s skin. 

“Don’t get me wrong, your mouth feels amazing, but it would feel even better somewhere else.”

Louis pulls back and smirks. “Where? Here?” He swoops back in to kiss Harry’s lips. “Or here?” He sucks right underneath Harry’s jawline against his pulse point where he noticed Harry’s breath hitch when he did it earlier. “Maybe _here_?” He flicks his tongue against one of Harry’s nipples. The fucking gorgeous sound Harry makes at that has Louis hardening even further in his jeans. He makes a mental note to explore that later.

“Louis,” Harry whines and _pouts_ like a child. “I see how it is. Louis Tomlinson is a fucking tease.” 

“Don’t pretend like you aren't loving it,” Louis says, pointedly eyeing the spot where Harry’s towel is tenting before dropping to his knees.

He mouths at Harry’s tummy right below his belly button while his fingers dance over the edge of the towel. He loves how he can feel every one of Harry’s harsh breathes against his lips. He knows he’s teasing again, but Harry gets so _sulky_ about it which just turns Louis on even more.

His fingers hook underneath the towel and it easily falls to the ground, pooling around Harry’s feet. Louis ignores what’s literally pointing him right in the face to kiss up the inside of his thighs instead. 

Once he’s had enough teasing—he’s getting just as eager for it as Harry is—he licks at the head of Harry’s cock and moans at the taste of it. Is there any part of Harry that doesn’t taste fucking incredible? He tastes so _good_ and this was definitely worth the wait. 

Harry is heavy and _throbbing_ against Louis’ tongue when he finally sucks him into his mouth. He takes his time swallowing Harry down because one; it’s been quite a while since he’s done this so he’s a little rusty, and two; Harry is bigger and thicker than anyone he’s had before. Giving head has always been one of his favorite things, he’s been told he’s pretty good at it, and he wants to make this good for Harry. By the sounds that are already falling from Harry’s lips, Louis must not be doing that bad of a job.

Harry tangles his fingers in the hair on the back of Louis’ head and it feels good there. Feels like it’s keeping Louis grounded because this is something that he always wanted so much, but never _ever_ dreamed he would actually get and he’s afraid he might just drift away into the atmosphere.

When Harry hits the back of his throat, Louis gags a little but steadies himself and breathes through it before pulling back. It takes him a minute to work up a rhythm, but once he does, he doesn’t stop. He bobs his head back and forth, over and over again until he is almost dizzy with it. He makes sure to press his tongue hard against the thick vein running along the underside of Harry’s cock each time he pulls back.

The way Harry’s thighs are trembling and the way his fingers twitch in Louis’ hair spurs Louis on even more and he doubles his efforts, trying to get Harry to the edge as quickly as possible.

Just as Louis feels Harry getting close, he flicks his eyes open to look up at him and _Christ_ he’s beautiful. He’s flushed all the way down to his chest and biting down hard on his lip. _He’s_ the reason Harry looks like this and he hopes he gets to see him this way again and again.

“Louis,” Harry gasps, his grip tightening in Louis’ hair. “Lou I’m—” Harry’s words cut off into a long drawn out groan as he comes, his entire body shaking with the force of it. Louis sucks him through it and doesn’t pull off until Harry pushes him away when he’s become too sensitive.

Louis wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand as he stands up. He’s a little wobbly once he’s on his feet, but Harry’s right there to steady him.

“Holy shit. That was amazing.” Harry says, still a little out of breath as he brings Louis in to kiss him roughly. “Come here.” 

Harry spins them around so he can shove Louis onto the bed. He barely has time to get properly situated before Harry is undoing his jeans and pulling them down along with his boxers. His head spins from how quickly Harry swallows him down and he’s afraid he might even pass out from how good it is.

Any other time Louis would probably be embarrassed by how fast he comes with Harry’s mouth around him, but right now he’s too fucking blissed out to care.

He can feel Harry crawling up the bed, whispering words of praise as he peppers kisses all over Louis’ chest, rucking up his shirt in the process. He weakly wraps his arms around Harry when he makes it up to him, his mouth finding the crook of Harry’s neck and he licks at the salty, sweaty skin he finds there. 

“Hey Lou,” Harry murmurs into Louis’ ear. Louis just hums in response because he’s still too spent and hazy from his orgasm to do much of anything else. “I love you.”

The warmth that floods Louis’ body at Harry saying those three little words makes him lightheaded, but in the best way possible. “I love you too, H.”

He should probably be getting back to work soon, but he’s on call so he knows the guys will call him if he’s needed. He doesn’t want to move because there’s nowhere else he wants to be than right here with Harry in his arms.

\--

“Just the two of you today?” Sally asks as she sets down their plates in front of them on the table.

They’re at their usual booth as always but they’re both sitting on the same side with their feet propped on the other.

“Yeah we’re on a date,” Louis says, stealing a quick glance at Harry who is smiling like he just won the lottery.

“A date?” Sally gasps, hand to her chest. The look on her face says she isn’t all that surprised though. “See Harry, I told you it would all work out.” She adds with a wink before walking away.

Louis shoves one of his fries into his mouth and waits until Sally has disappeared back into the kitchen before he turns to Harry. “What is she talking about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Harry’s cheeks are beet red and he shakes his head as he stares down at his food like it’s the most interesting thing in the world. 

Louis lightly nudges Harry with his shoulder. “Come on, tell me.” 

Harry sighs, defeated. “You remember when you went on that date with that bank teller?”

Bank teller? Lou’s pretty sure he’s never dated a bank teller. He nibbles on another fry as he thinks and then it hits him. “Brad? He was a bank _manager_ not a—” he cuts himself off when he sees the glare Harry is giving him. “Right, it doesn’t matter.” 

“Anyway,” Harry continues. “You had a date with him and you were so excited cause you hadn’t been on a date in a while. I came here after you left and of course Sally could tell something was up with me so she made me some fresh banana muffins and sat with me while I cried into my muffin and told her how upset I was that you were out with him instead of me. Then she told me that it would all work out in the end and I thought she was completely crazy at the time because there was no way you would ever be interested in me.” 

“Harry that was like five years ago.” 

“Yeah well,” Harry shrugs. “That’s when I realized I had real feelings for you. At first, I thought it was just because I didn’t like Bryan—” 

“Brad,” Louis corrects. He knows it doesn’t really matter, he just thinks it’s cute how jealous Harry is getting over some guy Louis dated for like two minutes _five years ago_.

“Because I didn’t like _Brad_ ,” He says his name like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth and Louis has to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing. “But really it’s because I was jealous. I was so fucking jealous of him and I hated it.” 

“We’re such idiots,” Louis says. “I should have told you how I felt the very first time I saw you. When you stumbled into that exam room like a deer in headlights.”

Harry honks out that obnoxious laugh of his that Louis will literally never get tired of. “I was so nervous for that exam! You’re such an asshole!”

“Yeah, but you love me,” Louis says, leaning in to seal his lips to Harry’s. Harry can’t really say it back because his mouth is otherwise occupied, but the way he kisses Louis tells him everything he needs to know.

“Aw, you two are so cute!” Sally coos causing them to break apart. She places two milkshakes on the table that they didn’t even order. Honestly, Louis thinks they’ve gotten more things for free at Sally’s than what they’ve actually paid for.

“She’s right you know,” Harry says, dipping a finger into the whipped cream on top of his milkshake. 

“Right about what?”

“We are really cute.”

Louis chuckles as he pulls Harry against him again and smiles against his lips. He guesses they are pretty cute.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [ireallysawanangel](http://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com) on tumblr, so come say hi!  
> [Here](http://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com/post/172661586184) is a little tumblr post you can reblog if you'd like!


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